I was there while Odesa & the Ukraine were still part of the USSR. We had to be escorted everywhere we went, but they arranged a visit to a local university where we had time to sit and talk with the students. It was a great experience. We met one girl who was very Western in her thinking and one boy who was a stereotypical Soviet party member, and we liked them both. The girl wanted to hear all about Madonna and fashion. She was dressed in bright colors (magenta and emerald green) and she was so enthusiastic about talking with us. The boy was dressed in the typical dark colors we saw over there and he wanted to talk a lot about religion and how could a rational person really believe in God.

We also went to the Opera (Carmen) and it was such a gorgeous opera house.

We took an afternoon and went to a winery in Moldavia. We all drank way too much wine and had a great time with our hosts. On the loooonnnngg bus ride back to Odesa they would not let us get off the bus at the gas station to use the restroom because it was not allowed. They did, however, stop for us to run around in the middle of a dark field. (use your imagination)